I’m a positive guy. What!? I am! Don’t let the title of this new series fool you. That doesn’t mean I can’t rage like The Incredible Hulk over fantasy football. My goal with the “10 Things I Hate About” series is to help YOU with your rage as the season rolls on and I expect well all need a safe place with padded walls come Week 2. Consider this your new cave to crawl in and release those inevitable fantasy football screams!
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Andrew Luck is Just Icing on a Crap Cake
- Andrew Luck’s Retirement: Yes, Andrew Luck has a right to be happy and yes I guess he should step away from the game if his body, soul and mind weren’t in it. BUT he really screwed a lot of my superflex shares. First, as I was aggressive on him in early drafts as a QB1, then again in later drafts as a value QB2 when others started to panic. I thought I was getting a league-altering pick! I was, just in a negative way and against me. Sigh. The one saving grace is that I faded the Colts offense as a whole outside of Luck anyway this year just based on the difficulty pegging which targets you could rely on week to week. The Andrew Luck retirement now presents an opportunity to buy low on Colts, but the problem remains the same.
- Melvin Gordon’s Holdout: I’m a Melvin Gordon fan, even though his 2018 injury killed so many of my playoff shares. What should have been the safe #5 or 6 overall pick in the first round quickly became a hard pass as the holdout drags on into the season.
- Ezekiel Elliott’s Holdout: This was more frustrating because I always knew he would sign, but I still have tire tracks from Le’Veon Bell circa 2018. Elliott was a potential #1 overall candidate. Then he slipped as far as 8 or 9 in some drafts depending on the panic level. That will be a game-changer in some leagues. It should also serve as a reminder of the perils of early drafting.
- No Le’Veon Bell In The Preseason: Speaking of Lev Bell, it would have been nice to see him play with Sam Darnold this preseason. I mean, he did sit out a whole year and with so many questions about Adam Gase possibly ruining him, a few good series would have gone a long way to assuage those fears. Alas, it didn’t happen and I’m still mad about it.
- The Last Minute RB Shuffle: Lamar Miller tore his ACL and the RB Shuffle began. Carlos Hyde went from the Chiefs to the Texans, LeSean McCoy went from the Bills to the Chiefs and my Darwin Thompson/Devin Singletary shares will have to marinate just a while longer. Not much longer mind you, as I believe Damien Williams will be an afterthought come October and Singletary will be the true #1 by Week 6.
- Daniel Jones’ Excellent Preseason: I love that Daniel Jones was awesome this preseason. No, I’m not contradicting myself. I love it because all those Giants fans are starting to eat a little crow after jumping ugly on him and the GM. I ALSO hate it because the Giants roster was another collective fade for me. Now with Jones looking capable, that transition could actually be a fruitful one for the likes of Golden Tate, Sterling Shepard, and Evan Engram. I thought things were going to go from bad to worse. Instead, they might go from bad to better, and quicker than originally anticipated. I like being right, but I’d rather recognize a mistake early while there’s still time to fix it.
- The Buccaneers Lack of RB Play: I wanted Ronald Jones to be a thing this year. I really did. But when it became apparent that wasn’t happening, I quickly abandoned the idea of owning him. Peyton Barber is not my cup of tea. Perhaps Dare Ogunbowale will be the answer, but for now, that’s a serious dart throw in the dark too.
- 49ers Muddy WR Situation I’m still playing the Deboo Samuel talent card here, but Dante Pettis or Marquise Goodwin having stellar preseasons would have been nice. See, with a rookie like Samuel, I want him in single coverage as an afterthought to a defense so he can shine. Now, I’m a little concerned about Samuel and the offense as a whole.
- Kirk Cousins Bad Preseason I defended Kirk Cousins a lot last year. No, it wasn’t always pretty, but the stats were still fantasy worthy. It’s been a bad few runs for him this August. That doesn’t necessarily mean a lot, but it’s getting tougher to defend him as a low end QB1/high end QB2 with Dalvin Cook looking like a potential breakout. I’m biting my nails with Cousins.
- Kenyan Drake/Kalen Ballage Timeshare Kenyan Drake is the better runner. I don’t want to hear about Kalen Ballage. Unfortunately, Drake had an injury at the worst time. I still say Drake wins the war, but Ballage is going to ruin some battles early on and that just sets me right off into a blinding rage.
Did Andrew Luck spoil your preseason? Let us know what you hate in the comments below.
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Joe Pisapia is the author of the #1 best-selling Fantasy Black Book Series and creator of the revolutionary player evaluation tool Relative Position Value (RPV). He’s the host of The Fantasy Black Book Podcast and the LineStar DFS Podcasts. Joe was previously host of the FSTA award-winning On Target Fantasy (2016 Radio Show of the Year), The Fantasy Black Book Show, RotoExperts in the Morning and NFL Game Day for the FNTSY Fantasy Sports Radio Network, as well as RotoWire MLB/NFL DFS Podcasts, and numerous shows for SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio. You can also see him frequently on CBS TV in New York on The Sports Desk. He’s written for The Sporting News, FanDuel Insider and FantasyAlarm.
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